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Monthly Archives: May 2014

Saccharin is noted as being the first artificial sweetener, outside of the toxic Lead(II) acetate, and the first product to offer a cheap alternative to cane sugar. Interestingly enough, like the Chocolate Chip Cookie, it was also discovered entirely by accident.

Sonos finally updated their Sonos Controller app to version 5 and not only matched the interface and design of iOS 7, but gave it a better, more streamlined and fluid experience. Other than making the software match the ease and elegance of their hardware, however, how well does it work?

For those already familiar with using the Sonos Controller app, all the services you hook into and all the settings will remain the same. A huge amount of the update contains an update interface. Luckily, that means the navigation and user experience has also been rethought and it even better than ever. Swipe to the right in any screen to access the main menu. From here you can use the universal search to look up anything you want. The search displays results from all the services you have hooked in.

Just like previous versions of the Sonos Controller app, you will use it to add components, edit room settings, and more. If you frequently use the Queue feature, you can access and add tracks to it as you could before. The updated design makes the queue itself easier to access and more obvious than the older version.

One feature that has and still does bug me about the Sonos Controller app is that liking or disliking songs is never consistent. While I can do this with Pandora and Beats Music, it doesn’t work with Spotify and a few others. I’m sure this has everything to do with how each service allows Sonos to hook into it, but it creates an inconsistent experience nonetheless. This is one of the big reasons I would really like to see AirPlay support in the future.

The good

Great interface that now matches the ease of use Sonos hardware offers

Complete setup of a system takes only seconds with the Sonos Controller app

Gesture support makes it easy to get back to the home menu in one motion

The bad

Still no AirPlay support

Liking and disliking songs works with some services, but not others

The bottom line

The Sonos Controller app always did what it needed to do but wasn’t nearly as easy to use as the Sonos hardware itself. Luckily the 5.0 version changes all that and gives it the design it deserves. The only thing that could make the Sonos experience better in my opinion, would be native AirPlay support.

If you’ve given the Sonos Controller app a spin, what do you think of the new design? Are there any missing features you’d like to see in a future update? Let me know in the comments!

We’re so lucky that Russia is doing its part in documenting history through dash cams because we get to see idiots act like idiots every other day. Here we get to see a foolish driver in road rage, who didn’t merge into a lane fast enough, ‘retaliate’ on the car who ‘cut him off’ by speeding and braking hard. Only the idiot road rage driver loses control of his own car and ends up crashing into a bystander’s car, almost killing an innocent guy. Idiot.

We hope you love how NBC handles its Olympic Games broadcasts, because it just locked up broadcast rights on TV, internet and mobile devices until 2032. NBC previously outbid rivals from ABC/ESPN and Fox with a $4.38 billion offer for the broadcast…

Here’s one horrible nightmare: Sitting on your airplane and seeing one of the engines on fire. That’s what happened to Brad McCoy’s BAE 146 airliner on his way to Barrow Island, Australia, the guy who took this video. Fortunately, the pilot was able to make a successful emergency landing at Perth.

T-Mobile has finally closed a deal to acquire highly-valuable 700MHz spectrum from Verizon, enabling the next wave of network upgrades for the carrier. In the wireless world not all spectrum is created equal, with lower frequencies being more desirable because they travel further distances and better penetrate buildings. Both of these attributes are badly needed on T-Mobile’s network as it traditionally operates on much higher frequencies between 1700 and 2100MHz, and T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray has a good idea of what they will do with it.